Distinguished guests,

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Thank you for the invitation to this signing ceremony. This marks a significant step in the development of a strategic partnership between CPG Facilities Management and Gleneagles Technologies Services.

Over the years, we have developed a high quality but affordable healthcare system. Singaporeans today enjoy a very high level of healthcare that rivals even the best from the developed world. In a World Health Organisation’s assessment in 2000, Singapore was ranked 6^th place, ahead of Japan (which ranked 10^th), Australia (32^nd) and the USA (37^th).

With economic prosperity and longer lifespan, the demands for better and more varied healthcare services will increase. Looking beyond our borders, the Asian healthcare service market had in 1997 made up 34% of the global market of US$107 billion but with a growing population and rising affluence, the Economic Development Board is expecting Asia to contribute at least 45% to the global market by 2005. In view of the rapidly growing opportunities in Asia, the ERC Work Group on Healthcare Services has recommended to grow the local healthcare service market from the current less than 1% of GDP to 3% by 2012. Besides meeting this growing demand, there is a potential of creating as many as 13,000 new jobs in our healthcare sector.

But Singapore is not alone in her aspirations to grow her health care sector. Other countries in our region are already investing heavily in their healthcare infrastructure to attract both international healthcare providers and consumers.

The main challenge is our competitiveness. We must continue to find ways to lower our operating costs, without compromising the quality and the scope of healthcare services rendered.

One such measure is for healthcare service providers to concentrate on attending to patients’ medical needs and upgrading its medical skills and equipment while non-core functions such as the physical management of hospital facilities itself could be out-sourced.

I am pleased to note that Singapore has spawned and developed a small number of niche players which deliver integrated healthcare facilities management services to healthcare service providers

Today marks the initiative of CPG Facilities Management and Gleneagles Technologies Services to partner each other to better meet the needs of the healthcare industry. By complementing on each other’s expertise, this joint venture will be a one-stop provider for services ranging from hospital facility management and maintenance, consulting services in hospital and medical facility development to hospital staff training related to biomedical engineering. It is indeed noteworthy that they would be the first such company to provide such a comprehensive range of healthcare facilities management and services in Singapore and the Asia Pacific region.

Over the last few years, both BCA and IE Singapore have been working together to facilitate the internationalisation of local construction and construction-related firms. Integrated facilities management is a niche market that our local firms can value-add and compete in overseas markets. With the rising standard of living in the region, particularly in China and India, we can expect more market opportunities for integrated facilities management. In this aspect, I am sure the new partnership we witnessed today, combining the strengths of CPG Facilities Management and Gleneagles Technologies Services is well placed to become a brand name in the growing healthcare industry, both local and beyond.

With this, I wish you success in all your future endeavours! Thank you.

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